Kukla's Korner Hockey

Barry Brennan is the Jackets’ strength and conditioning coach. He laid out offseason regimens for each player. The regimens were detailed. All a player had to do was check the date, read the requirement—and do it.

“We needed to think a little bit outside the box and really apply ourselves,” Brennan said. “To play the style Hitch wants us to play, and to sustain it, we needed to be bigger and stronger. Hitch told the players that we need to be the fittest team in the league. It made things easier for me. I had a little more of a hammer.”